AI is transforming the photo editing process. With the aid of AI photo editors we can easily make corrections and substantially improve our images with just a couple of clicks. One of the significant improvements we can now make is upscale images. And this is the focal point of this article.
AI-based image upscaling software has the power to enhance the resolution and quality of photographs using advanced machine learning algorithms. Traditional upscaling techniques generated many times pixelated and blurry images. AI upscaling predicts and generates additional details by analyzing the image’s patterns and structures. By leveraging deep learning models trained on vast datasets, these tools can intelligently reconstruct textures, edges and fine details. This makes them ideal for large-format prints, for restoring old photographs, improving graphics in video games or preparing images for high-resolution displays.
Below you can find a list of 10 AI tools you can reliably use to accomplish your task.
Gigapixel AI
Gigapixel by Topaz Labs is an AI image upscaler that can be used either as a standalone program for Windows and Mac or as a Lightroom/Photoshop plugin. Why should this software be at the top of your list. Well, simply because it does not compromise on quality. Gigapixel AI gives you the possibility to upscale an image 1x, 2x, 4x or 6x. You can go even higher with the scale factor, but in this case the program won’t guarantee the preservation of the image quality.
Depending on your particular case, you can choose between 5 AI models: for high-res pictures, low-res pictures, artwork and graphics, for the preservation of text and shapes and a standard model for the majority of images. The tool is equipped with two generative models, Recover and Redefine, to bring back or add new details, Face Recovery to remove pixelation and create impeccable portraits and a Gamma correction feature. There are also useful options to manually or automatically sharpen, denoise and fix compression.
Gigapixel has a clear interface that ensures an easy navigation. You’ll find all the editing tools on the right side panel, while in the center you’ll be able to visualize the difference between the original and upscaled image. It’s important to mention that all the photos are processed locally and not uploaded to a server to secure your work.
Pros
- It delivers outstanding results.
- The ability to add realistic details in images.
- The multiple upscaling ratios.
- The variety of AI models, suitable for different image types.
- The refinement options to further enhance your pics.
Cons
- The limitations of the demo version.
Price
Gigapixel AI comes with a fully-featured demo version, with no time limit. While you can test the program for as long as you want, you can’t actually save the edited photos. In order to export them you’ll need to purchase a license. The cost of a license is $99 (it includes 12 months of free updates).
Aiarty
Aiarty is a Mac and Windows solution designed to upscale and enhance AI generated art and not only. This AI-powered software has been trained on a vast dataset of 6.78 million images and can efficiently upscale pictures by up to 800%. This means it can create output resolutions of 4K, 16K and even 32K while accurately maintaining the details and textures. The program integrates 4 operations into a single, one-click process: denoise, unblur, dejpeg and upscale/enhance.
Aiarty is compatible with a wide range of formats, from JPG, PNG and TIFF to RAW ones like DNG, CR3 or NEF. The tool is equipped with 3 upscale AI models:
- More-detail GAN. Optimal for images with rich details and textures, including hair, skin and other intricate patterns. It boosts the details, clarity and sharpness.
- Smooth Diff. Optimal for images with less details, blurriness and overall poor quality. This includes 2d anime, line art, cartoons or pictures with smooth texture.
- Real-Photo. Optimal for realistic, high-resolution images. It fixes imperfections like grain, noise and blur, boosting the clarity and fidelity.
Aiarty’s interface is quite easy to work with. Everything is clearly structured, so you won’t have any problems getting used to the software. The process of enlarging images is quite straightforward:
- Import your pictures or an entire folder.
- Choose the AI model adequate for your images.
- Choose your upscale ratio.
- Hit the Run button to process the images.
Pros
- Exceptional results in terms of details and sharpness.
- The possibility to choose an AI upscale model based on image characteristics.
- Effective unblurring and denoising tools.
- The possibility to upscale images by up to 8x.
- The support for batch processing.
Cons
- The upscaling process may take a long time, depending on your PC’s capabilities.
Price
Aiarty comes with a free trial version with certain limitations. For example, the batch exports may contain before/after comparison images. There are two paid options available:
- Standard license: $75/year.
- Lifetime license: $99/year
AVC Labs Photo Enhancer
AVC Labs Photo Enhancer AI gives users the chance to boost the overall aspect of their images online or through the desktop tool. How? With the aid of artificial intelligence, of course. The software resorts to super-resolution imaging technology to enlarge photos 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x. What kind of photos can be enhanced? All types, but particularly portraits (AI face recognition technology), landscape, architecture, product photos, wedding photos and anime. There’s support for classic formats like JPEG, PNG, BMP and TIFF, as well as for RAW files.
Photo Enhacer AI places at your disposal five main editing features: AI upscaler, denoiser, color calibration, colorizer and background removal. Additionally you can manually modify image settings, such as brightness, saturation and contrast. If you want to enlarge a photograph, the process is far from complicated. Here are the steps to follow:
- Add your photo(s).
- On the right side panel, select AI Upscaler from the Feature List.
- (Optionally) Adjust the model settings and image settings.
- From the Output settings, select the target image size, the format and DPI.
- Click on the eyeball icon on the top right to preview the changes.
- Click on the Save All button to process the files.
Pros
- The variety of AI tools to enhance your pictures.
- It does a good job improving the overall quality of the photo.
- You can increase the DPI up to 1,500.
- Batch export option.
Cons
- No AI upscale model to select.
- The watermark on the processed photos in the free version.
- Loss in details in certain pictures.
Price
AVC Labs Photo Enhancer AI offers a fully-featured free trial version. You can process your photos, but they’ll all have the software’s watermark applied to them. To remove this limitation you can purchase a license.
- 1 month: $19.95
- 1 year: $79.95
- Lifetime license: $99.90
- PhotoPro AI: $39.95/month
Nero AI
Nero AI is an AI-powered solution to enhance and upscale photos on multiple platforms and devices. You have the possibility to increase image resolution directly in your browser, on your desktop computer (PC and Mac) and on your mobile device (Android and iPhone). The software uses a super-resolution technology based on deep neural networks. These networks have been trained on a large dataset of images, which integrates millions of both low- and high-resolution photos.
Which images work best with Nero AI? RAW photos that haven’t been already enlarged, as well as images generated with various AI models like DALL-E, Midjourney or Stable Diffusion. This includes digital illustrations, pictures with sharp corners and borders, contrasting textures and more. Users have the opportunity to upscale photos 1x, 2x or 4x, with a maximum resolution of 16,000 x 16,000 pixels at an aspect ratio of 1:1. There are 4 upscale models to choose from: Standard (landscapes and city skyline), Photo (smartphone or digital camera shots with softer results in comparison to the Standard model), Anime and Business (product photos, real estate, pixelated text).
Enlarging photos on the platform is easy to accomplish. All you have to do is upload your picture(s), select your upscale model and your upscale rate and click on the Start button.
Pros
- It offers a visible improvement in clarity and sharpness.
- It’s simple to use.
- It upscales images (individually or in bulk) in a timely manner.
Cons
- You can’t enhance photos by more than 4x.
Price
Nero AI provides a limited number of credits, so you can freely test its capabilities. You can get extra credits by signing up to its newsletter. There are two paid options:
- Pro Pass: 300 credits for $19.95/month
- Business: Custom credits
LetsEnhance
LetsEnhance is another AI image enlargement software. The platform leverages ML technologies to analyze pixels and patterns in images and to enhance them by increasing both the resolution and quality. The software makes it possible to convert low-res photos to 4K+ to obtain sharp prints, to improve textures and models for gaming and VR or to upscale images generated with AI. In that sense it offers multiple upscale rates (1x, 2x, 4x, 8x and 16x) and the opportunity to increase the image size up to 512 megapixels and get a 300+ DPI resolution.
LetsEnhance is designed to increase the resolution, but also to improve the overall image quality. That’s why it comes with a series of modes based on the image type and the level of enhancement you want to apply: Magic, Balanced, Gentle, Digital Art and Legacy. In addition it offers other AI features to balance the lighting, boost the tone and colors or remove the background. The website allows you to upload JPG, PNG and WebP files up to 50 MB and to enlarge up to 20 images at the same time. There also printing presets available in case you want to obtain the optimal print quality.
Pros
- Great-looking images with minimal artifacts.
- The multiple upscale styles for various image types.
- The possibility to make images 16x bigger than the original size.
- Useful AI tools for image enhancement.
Cons
- Only three input formats.
- The LetsEnhance watermark on the processed photos in the free edition.
Price
LetsEnhance is based on a credit system. When you sign up, you receive 10 bonus credits (1 credit=1 upscaled image). You can opt for one of the subscription plans or for the pay-as-you-go plan.
Subscription:
- 100 credits: $9/month
- 300 credits: $24/month
- 500 credits: $34/month
Pay as you go:
- 20 credits: $9
- 50 credits: $19
- 120 credits: $39
Upscale.media
Upscale.media by PixelBin is designed to help you effortlessly upscale images with AI. The website can be used by e-commerce businesses to enhance product images, by realtors to boost their property photos, by artists and photographers to transform low-quality images and obtain an optimal print quality or by users looking to restore pictures compressed when uploaded to Google Photos or various social platforms.
Users have the possibility to enlarge photos directly on the platform or in Figma, ChatGPT and Photoshop through the Upscale.media plugin. The software supports several image formats (JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP and BMP) and allows you to increase the resolution of your original picture up to 400%. The process is really simple:
- Upload your file or copy/paste the URL.
- Select your upscale ratio and, optionally, enable the Enhance quality option.
- Click on the Download Image button.
In case you’re dealing with a large collection of photos, the platform offers the opportunity to batch upscale and export them.
Pros
- Easy to use.
- The image enlargement quality is quite good.
- The extra option to remove artifacts and improve the sharpness.
Cons
- In batch mode, you can only upload files up to 25MB and a maximum resolution of 1,500 x 1,500 pixels.
- No refund possible in case you decide to make a purchase.
Price
Upscale.media is available with a free plan, which offers 3 credits along with 3 downloads each month. There are three distinct paid versions to choose from:
- Subscription plan: $0.05/credit
- Pay as you go: $0.30/credit
- Enterprise: customized plan
Img. Upscaler
Img. Upscaler is a platform particularly developed to make photos not only bigger, but better as well. Based on the super-resolution imaging technique, the software is equipped with two main tools: upscaler and reimagine. The first option enables you to enlarge your images by 200% or 400% while preserving the quality. The second option is designed to produce a modified version of your original photo. You not only increase photo resolution, but also add creative details and patterns to obtain a high-quality picture.
The standard image upscale method doesn’t provide any AI models to select. You upload your photo, select the desired resolution and process it. The reimagine method places at your disposal two AI upscale models and allows you bring changes to the image using a text prompt. You can also adjust the Creativity and Resemblance Strength sliders to control the final aspect of the picture. Once it is generated, you can access the editor and apply various changes to the photo. These range from cropping and annotating to applying filters and fine-tuning image settings like exposure, contrast, saturation or temperature.
Pro
- It delivers crisp images without losing intricate details.
- You can upscale 20 images/month free of charge.
- No watermark on the processed photos in the free plan.
- The reimagine AI feature.
- Feature-rich editor to fine-tune the upscaled image.
Cons
- You can increase resolution only by 200% or 400%.
- No split preview mode to see the differences between the original and edited picture.
- You can upload only three image formats: JPG, PNG and WebP.
Price
Img. Upscaler offers a free version, which provides 20 credits/month (1 upscale=1 credit), with a maximum output resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels. If you want to enlarge more images and enjoy batch processing, you’ll need to choose one of the three subscription plans:
- Starter: $19/year
- Premium: $39/year
- Business: $69/year
PixelCut
PixelCut is one of the simplest AI image upscalers you can use. If you’re looking for a tool with lots of settings and options to customize the upscaling process down to the tiniest detail, this might not be the one for you. But if you’re searching for a basic solution to quickly turn low-res photos into high-quality photos, this might be perfect for your needs.
PixelCut comes with a simple interface, that leaves no room for confusion. All you have to do is upload a picture from a local folder or Dropbox, pick the desired upscale rate (up to 400%) and then let the AI do its thing. Once the image is ready, you can open it in the PixelCut editor for additional adjustments. Among others you’ll find features to replace the background, add text or insert a wide range of graphic elements. There’s also a batch mode available, which allows you to process up to 200 files simultaneously.
Pros
- It’s simple to use, adequate for beginners.
- It produces sharp, high-quality images.
- No watermark on the upscaled images in the free version.
Cons
- Only two upscale rates available: 2x and 4x.
- Increasing the resolution by 400% is a paid option.
- No advanced settings.
Price
PixelCut can be freely tested with limitations. The paid Pro plan can be purchased for $9.99/month or $59.99/year.
VanceAI
VanceAI is a tool equipped with diverse AI features, including one to increase picture resolution. You can transform low-res images into high-quality pictures directly on its website or through its desktop program (Windows only). The web-based solution lets you upscale your photos by 200%, 400% or 800%, while the more powerful desktop version can make images 40x bigger than their original size. Another advantage of the Windows-based program is the fact that you can batch enlarge photos.
To ensure an optimal outcome, VanceAI places at your disposal five AI models to enlarge images based on their individual characteristics: Photo, Anime, Art & CG, Text and Magic Enlarge. You can choose between diverse preset upscale values or customize the process by manually entering the desired dimensions for the width and height. At the same time, you have the possibility to set the output quality and the DPI resolution. There are also other features to suppress noise, remove blur and enhance faces.
Pros
- It efficiently upscales blurry photos.
- The five AI upscale models for various image types.
- The multiple options to set the new image resolution.
- The possibility to enlarge images by 40x.
Cons
- The watermark applied to the upscaled photos in the free edition.
- It supports only JPG and PNG files.
Price
VanceAI offers a limited amount of free credits so you can test the software. Afterwards you’ll have to purchase more credits if you want to continue using it. There’s a different price plan for the two editions.
Online version
- 100 credits: $4.95
- 200 credits: $7.95
- 500 credits: $12.95
- 1,000 credits: $17.95
Desktop version
- 1 month: $39.90
- 1 year: $99.90
- Lifetime license: $129.90
Remini
Remini is an AI photo and video enhancer that can be accessed via its online platform or its Android and iPhone mobile apps. You can also use it as a Photoshop plugin. The software is structured around two main features: Enhance and Generative AI. The first one gives you the chance to improve the overall aspect of your photographs by unblurring, denoising, sharpening, fixing the colors and, of course, upscaling. The second feature is designed to generate professional photos of yourself in diverse poses and angles.
Getting back to our main subject, Remini allows you to make your pictures 2x larger in size without losing quality. The process is done automatically, with no user input possible. All you have to do is upload your photo and the software will automatically double its resolution. What you can adjust are the AI filters used to enhance facial features, blur the background or make color corrections. If you’re working with multiple files, you can enhance up to 15 images at once.
Pros
- Quick and easy to use.
- The variety of image enhancement features.
- Pretty good at restoring old photos and portraits.
Cons
- It can upscale images only by 200% and to a maximum resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels.
- A loss in fine details after enlarging certain pictures.
- The obtrusive watermark on the processed pictures in the free plan.
Pricing
Remini allows you to freely test the platform. You’ll be able to download the enhanced image, but a watermark will be applied to it. To remove the watermark and access other features, you’ll need to subscribe to the paid version. At the time of writing this article, both the personal and business plans are discounted to $0.99/7days.